And So Fell The Tree
by TheNSIGirl
Summary: And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…. AU, teamwork-fic, no definite pairings. Rated 'T' in case.
1. Prologue: And So Fell the Tree

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…

* * *

**-Prologue-**

**And So Fell The Tree**

* * *

"I'm not the same as them."

"Just don't get in my way, dead-last."

* * *

Sasuke ran through the forest, keeping one eye on the bandit and the other behind his shoulder. There was a high chance of having another one chasing after him, with the uselessness of his teammates. _In fact, with Naruto's stupidity and Sakura's ignorance, it was actually probable._

He could hear the pitter-patter of someone's footsteps behind him and almost snorted, but then he shook his head. He couldn't afford to be distracted now. The one running in front of him was smarter than most of the other idiots back in the camp and while he was fairly sure that Kakashi wouldn't let a mere bandit escape, he had to make sure there weren't any left. It was after all, his duty to prove himself superior to Naruto.

More footsteps were heard in the forest behind him. This time, he really snorted. _Kakashi must be getting old if this many bandits had passed through his guard. _And he could expect no less from his weak teammates.

His sharingan caught movement in front of him; the man seemed to be searching for something in his bag. That was good, searching would slow him down. Now Sasuke's breathe had turned to pants, it was _hard_ running for so long in this environment. He could take to the trees, but trees were too thick and close to each other, he might lose sight of his target.

His movements became sluggish, he began to lose focus, and _he was tired._ But his determination and the adrenaline rushing through his veins gave him enough energy to go on.

_How could a bandit have this much stamina?_ After five minutes of chasing the man, he was becoming impressed by his determination to escape. He was almost tempted to let him go but his pride got in the way.

"Wait Sasuke!" he heard behind him. _Naruto's here? _He should have known those footsteps belonged to him. The thought of Naruto catching up to him led Sasuke to pumping chakra into his legs to run faster. He would _not_ let the moron show him up. But he seemed to be getting slower.

_Nerve gas! Of course!_ He felt like slapping himself. He wasn't usually this slow or sluggish. _That tricky bastard!_

He now paid even more attention to the bastard in front of him. He seemed to be smirking as he pulled out something from his coat, _a bomb_ his angry red eyes told him, and threw it somewhere in front of him. This hiss of the explosive penetrated the pounding in his ears and finally registered in his brain before panic began to set in. His brain ordered his body to stop; turn around, anything but his limbs wouldn't obey. The gas had affected his system too much and his momentum propelled his body onto the disastrous tree.

Bright light nearly burned off his sharingan and blast of air that followed rattled his jaw, he could barely hear the 'boom' of the explosion through the roaring in his ears. The tree shook violently and began to fall. Watching the tree come down slowly and in great detail was _surreal_, and that made it all the more terrifying. He closed his eyes and his mind gave out one last thought: _and so fell the tree…_

Sasuke felt a tug on his shirt, more of a great pull and he was thrown away like a rag doll. Just as his head hit a rock that had no business lying there, the earth shook as if some giant had decided to play with a skipping rope. Plumes of dust rose from the air, making harder to breathe, and even harder to see. He tried to open his eyes and get up, but the pain in his head made him dizzy: he had to have a concussion from the amount of pain in his head knocking on his skull. He tried opening his eyes again but the dust that still clung to the air irritated his eyes not counting the blood that was slowly flowing down his head. So he remained kneeling and trying to cough out the dust that had gotten in his throat.

He felt someone, a couple of people, running quickly towards him; he could hear Sakura panting. He felt a rough hand pulling him up and was grateful for the help, even if he didn't show it. Squinting his eyes, wary of the dust clouds still floating in the air, he saw the blurred outlines of Sakura and Kakashi around him. His eyes unconsciously searched for an obnoxiously bright orange outfit that he should still have the ability to pot but it wasn't there.

When he realized this, he quickly shot up in panic searching around, not caring if he looked half-mad.

"Where's Naruto?" he yelled, something he did extremely rarely.

His tone seemed to have alerted the other members of his team as Sakura's eyes widened in panic and Kakashi turned to look around in worry.

The dust settled moments later and the sight that greeted them made Sakura fall to her knees and both Kakashi and Sasuke to freeze in shock.

The dust seemed to hover over a figure trapped under the same tree that nearly killed Sasuke. They could clearly smell blood and the said liquid pooled around the person's body. But what gave them all that terrible feeling of horror and dread was the sight of an orange and blue outfit still visible through the dust.

Sasuke was the first to regain his voice and movements, and when he did open his mouth, the only sound that came out, in a rather undignified whimper, was, "Na-Naruto?"

* * *

**Hello peoples! You guys do not know me so I'll introduce myself. I'm TheNSIGirl, short for TheNotSoInnocentGirl. I had this idea running through my head for a while but I, forgive me for saying this, was extremely lazy and nervous and on vacation where internet was sadly not an option.**

**I got this idea when I read BigTimeNinjaXD's "The Haunting Past" that he/she still didn't continue and I got this idea in my head of Sasuke learning their future in dreams/oracle then learning about Kakashi's past through dreams/oracle then reliving Kakashi's past then finally, getting this scene in my head of having a teammate go through the same situation that happened in Kakashi Gaiden series. Anyways, this is the prologue, the actual chapter might not come up for quite some time but luckily this is summer and I have a lot of free time. For all those actually cared to read this, I thank you. Now while I'm doing this for fun some reviews about your opinions would be nice too :D.**

**I actually do have a have a plot for this story. (Guess doing nothing but imagining crazy fantasies do have some advantages) I hate bashing and quick-changing stories so I'm gonna take things slowly. I will say it now that while I have no definite pairings yet, this story will NOT be yaoi and yuri. I personally have nothing against this but writing my favourite character having feelings for another character that I feel has no right to love him, -cough cough- SasuNaru –cough cough-, fairly disgusts me. Believe me, I have no objections to say, ShikaNaru or NejiNaru but as I've said, the canon has no such pairings and neither will this story. And any romance bits are gonna wait till after Shippuden cuz people, they're still 12!**

**Thank you guys for reading through this rambling that I politely call Author's Note, and am looking forward to your opinions.**

**See ya guys, dattebayo!**

**P.S. If it's short, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!  
**


	2. Ch 1: Losers Never Prosper

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…

* * *

**-Chapter One-**

**Losers Never Prosper**

* * *

"In the end, a loser is a loser… They cannot change!"

"You cannot your destiny!"

* * *

The sun was shining in the bright blue sky, heating the air until the temperature was unbearable. But the people of Konohagakure no Sato were used to the heat. It was always hot in the Land of Fire, no pun intended. But it was hard to hate the heat; it was after all, a trademark of their home land, one constant in the people's lives, the hard and dangerous lives of the shinobi in the Village of the Hidden Leaves.

If one were to describe Konoha, they would have told you 'beautiful'. For beautiful it was indeed, an enormous circular mass of buildings of all shapes and sizes with different colored rooftops, high-rising walls surrounding it, unbroken with the exceptions of five gates connecting it to the outside including the majestic main gate. Outside the walls, the giant expanse of the forest created by the Shodai Hokage upon the creation of Konoha extended all the way to the borders of Hi no Kuni. But the most eye-catching landmark of them all was a huge mountain overlooking the village, carved with the heads of all the Hokage who had ever protected Konoha, from the Shodai Hokage all the way to the Yondaime. This village was the pride of The Land of Fire.

The shinobi here were a happy bunch, and they had a good reason to, for they were proud members of Konoha's elite ninjas, the shinobi of the biggest Hidden Village in the Elemental Countries, the proud victors of The Third Shinobi War. They were in a time of great peace and prosperity. There was no better way to live life than to train, go on missions, _feel_ the adrenaline rushing through their veins and then come home and wash down their excitement with cheap sake made exclusively in Kusa. Therefore, the ninjas were all generally satisfied.

Well, maybe not all of them.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke woke up panting as he barely held in the scream that threatened to escape his throat. Yet another nightmare. They never seemed to leave him. They never stopped appearing at night, ever since his clan was massacred when he was eight.

_He's not coming after me,_ he told himself, _he's not coming after me._ He had to repeat these words again and again like a mantra before he calmed himself.

He got out of his futon and went to the bathroom, where he prepared himself for a new day. When he got out, he headed towards the kitchen to have some semblance of a breakfast.

He had a couple of granola bars and a glass of orange juice before packing up his bento and walking out the door. That was his normal routine for the last four years.

He walked down the well-worn dirt path that led all the houses in the Uchiha compound to its main gate. He kept his mind carefully blank, thinking of nothing but all the torturous training Kakashi would have him and his stupid team of Extra Luggage through.

The walk outside to the training ground would have been short, about fifteen minutes to be exact if he wasn't bombarded by the Pink-haired Freak of Nature. As soon as he was within twenty feet of his compound gate, she had shot out of the bushes in a blur and latched onto his arms like a pink leech, rambling about how she missed her 'Sasuke-kun' and how _her _Sasuke-kun, (he shivered in disgust here), looked so handsome in his blue shirt and telling him how he would be awesome at training today.

He sighed in relief when they reached the Third Training Ground. The vast expanse of land covered in grass and trees with a red bridge across the stream had never seemed so heavenly to him before. It was a sight for sore eyes; _well if Naruto wasn't ruining the view._

He settled down with his back to railings, ignoring Sakura's compliments and Naruto's shouts to stop ignoring their teammates. This was his routine ever since he graduated from the Academy. And soon Kakashi would arrive with his lame excuse and then put them through The Training From Hell.

Sasuke never saw the point in these exercises. Some stupid survival exercises, spars and laps around the ground. But he needed to get stronger, damnit! How could he get stronger with this pointless training?

He sighed again. It was getting pointless, waiting here for about an hour and half when he could spend his time training?

"Hey teme, don't you think it would have been better if we were training instead of waiting here for sensei, dattebayo?" Sasuke heard Naruto ask him. He was surprised, but did not show it in his face. For once Naruto had a point. Why couldn't Kakashi train them like a normal sensei?

"Shut up Naruto! Kakashi-sensei obviously has important things to do," Sakura yelled at the moron.

"Like what Sakura-chan, reading porn? At least he could teach us something useful!" Naruto said petulantly.

Sasuke twitched in irritation; why couldn't he have some normal teammates like that Aburame boy or even Shika-something with the pineapple head. At least they were quiet, but no he had to get the loudest and weakest children in his class.

There was a puff of smoke, _why is it always smoke? _Sasuke thought wryly, and their sensei appeared, his nose in that thrice-damned book of his. He tried to act dignified, but it was hard to when your teacher was reading his pornography in front of them with no shame. His lazy eye looked up and swept across them silently; Sasuke was always unnerved by this part, and raised his arm.

"Yo!" Kakashi waved, smiling with his single eye curved in an upside-down 'U'. Sasuke would swear blind till the day he died that the Copy Ninja had smiled like that just to annoy him and his team. He forced down his irritation and kept his face blank. However, his teammates did not possess his level of control.

"YOU'RE LATE!" they roared fiercely like lions in voices so loud that they nearly bust his eardrums. Kakashi's smile grew even wider. That bastard was enjoying this!

"I had to protect my fellow shinobi from getting killed by his angry wife," he informed them in a cheerful voice. Sasuke had to raise an eyebrow. Now that was one he had never heard before.

"Hn," was all he said.

"THAT'S A LIE!" the twin banshees screamed out. This time, it was only his pride that stopped Sasuke from nursing his poor ears.

Kakashi's smile turned into a full-blown grin.

"Now now, why would I lie to my cute genin? But now it's enough chit chat, let's train!"

Sasuke felt his stomach drop_, _(not that he showed it)_,_ when he saw the evil-looking glint in the Copy Nin's eye. He subtly assessed his teammates and saw that they were slightly paler than usual. When he turned back the jounin, the said man had an aura of sadistic glee that ensured today's torture, politely called 'warm-up', would be hell.

"Fifty laps around the training ground, now hop to it!"

* * *

"One last exercise before today's mission," announced their sensei happily. Team Seven looked at him warily. Whenever their sensei was happy, it meant more torture for them, as he demonstrated this morning.

After having them run the fifty laps, at the end of which Sakura collapsed and Naruto only panting, (much to Sasuke's chagrin because he was _wheezing, _and Uchiha's didn't _wheeze_), Kakashi had them run through his _special _obstacle course. In his mind, Sasuke replaced the word _special_ with _brutal._ The stupid obstacle course was riddled with traps! Then they were ordered to practice the tree-climbing exercise, for _three friggin' hours! _After all that training, Sasuke had to struggle to keep that emotionless mask on his face. For once, he was jealous of Team Eight and Team Ten. _They _had normal teachers, not slave drivers.

He stood up slowly and the other two followed his lead.

"What more Kakashi-sensei, you're gonna make us do twenty push-ups?" Naruto asked waspishly.

Sakura looked at Kakashi with wide, begging green eyes, trying to guilt him into saying no.

Sasuke glared at him, daring him to agree.

Kakashi looked at them all in the eye and opened his mouth. The pre-teens unconsciously leaned forward, anticipating his answer.

"No. That would be too kind!"

They fell down to the ground, anime-style.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" Naruto yelled.

"GIVE US SOMETHING EASIER!" Sakura screamed.

"…." Sasuke just glared at him intensely with the infamous Uchiha Death Glare, almost willing him to turn into ashes.

Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"Calm down, calm down, it's just an endurance exercise," he told them in a soothing tone that had Sasuke immediately suspicious, and he made it known. After all, Kakashi always did tell them to 'look underneath the underneath'.

"We just have to see who could stay standing the longest." Here Kakashi smiled at them menacingly, confirming Sasuke's suspicions. "While dodging my kunai."

And then it was absolute hell. Kakashi started easy, one kunai at a time and kept adding more the faster they dodged them.

Sasuke had no problem with this exercise other than the occasional scratch of a kunai when he didn't dodge properly. He would've used his Sharingan if their sensei hadn't forbidden him from using it for that week. He side-stepped, ducked and sometimes jumped, using the minimum amount of energy required.

As he dodged, his mind wandered; it was about two weeks since their first C-ranked mission to Wave and since then they took at least one or two C-ranked missions a week. Last week, they had to gather some herbs found exclusively in the Land of Hot Water and deliver it to some Apothecary in Konoha. And the week before they took two escort missions within the Land of Fire.

Overall, Sasuke was very bored; he ducked under a kunai that was very close to shaving off his hair, the missions were very easy, nothing challenging at all, and he learned almost nothing from Kakashi over than the tree-walking exercise but how walking on trees would help him kill Ita-That Man, he nearly said his name, he never knew. He hoped to obtain some new techniques but their stupid sensei wouldn't teach them any.

Here the white-haired jounin doubled the speed of the kunai, making him concentrate more on the incoming projectiles. He noted silently that Sakura had collapsed sometime before and was now laying on the ground trying to catch her breath. He realized that it was now only him and the dumb-ass left standing and doubled his effort. He would _not _lose to Naruto. It seemed that Naruto's pitiful mind had come to same conclusion as him and was now trying harder.

Just thinking about Naruto made him sneer. That idiot should never have graduated the Academy. He was just a weak, talentless and stupid show-off. He could barely make a simple bunshin, _although,_ Sasuke grudgingly added,_ that seemed to be because he had too much chakra and no control._ After spending about a two months with the moron, he did seem to have something other than air in his head. He did after come up with a plan to free Kakashi from Zabuza's water prison and defeat the fake hunter-nin. That made him angry. He jumped up quickly before leaning to his right. How could _Naruto,_ the dead-last beat that Hunter-nin when Sasuke couldn't with the Sharingan? And why did he jump in front of him like that? He should stay alive to kill That Man, not die because of a weakling. From then on, he remained even colder to his team, and trained viciously. It would not do to make friends that would only distract him from his goal and hurt him when they leave.

He jumped to the left, his body sagging. Now he was exhausted. It was extremely hard and tiring to dodge kunai now that Kakashi was throwing them in sevens and eights and now both him and Naruto were forced to twist their bodies to avoid getting stabbed.

After another five minutes that seemed like hours to Sasuke, Kakashi stopped throwing the daggers. Sasuke let go of his pride and fell down immediately. Naruto seemed to be in a better condition as he managed to walk to his canteen, all the while complaining about the difficulty of the test.

_At least you're able to walk idiot, _Sasuke spit out in his mind.

Naruto too collapsed after he drank the heavenly liquid.

_I thought too early._

* * *

The citizens of Konoha were greeted with a strange sight that evening. A tall grey- haired man wearing Konoha's standard shinobi outfit was walking down the road to the Academy with an offensive orange book in his hand. Trailing behind him were three twelve-year old children, each looking murderous and an aura of fury hung over all three of them. Naturally, people gave them a wide berth.

They marched up to the Academy, and through the halls still giving off that air of hatred that made the chunin on duty sweat. When they finally reached the Mission Assignment Desk and looked up the Hokage.

When the Hokage looked upon Team Seven, he understood why they were furious. Their clothes were ripped up badly with a bit a blood and a _lot _of dirt on them; they were practically rags. Their faces were cut and bruised and all three of them had an air of absolute exhaustion and were basically dragging their feet. All in all, they looked like death warmed over. He wondered what Kakashi had put them through, and pitied them.

"Team Seven here requesting a mission Hokage-sama!" Kakashi informed them in an abnormally cheerful voice. He seemed to be ignoring the killing intent emanating from his students but the Hokage noticed that he seemed to be sweating slightly. Hiding a smile, he chose to merely observe as the chunin around him reported the missions available and their options.

Kakashi scanned through the missions details while his students speared his back with glares, before finally giving his opinion.

"I would take Watanabe-san's mission for today, and-"

"THAT'S A D-RANK SENSEI!"

_It seemed like Naruto was too tired for that type of mission_, the Hokage mused. He never thought that he would see the day when Naruto was too tired for a mission. He was eager to improve his record.

"And I would take that C-rank from Nikko," Kakashi continued, irritated.

The room quieted down. All the occupants in the room stared at Kakashi and the white-haired jounin stood indifferently. The Hokage scrutinized him and then stated his question.

"Are your genin ready for a combat mission Kakashi?"

The jounin returned his gaze before answering firmly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Naruto proceeded to add in his two cents.

"Are you doubting my awesome abilities jiji?! I would kick anyone's butt!"

His teammates Sasuke and Sakura glared at him.

He looked at the here genin, noted the confidence in their faces before smiling.

"Very well then. Team Seven, missions granted."

When they walked out of the room, he could hear them chattering excitedly.

"So, what's the actual mission about Kakashi-sensei?"

Two loud smacks echoed down the hall.

* * *

At the end of their mission, Sasuke wasn't sure whether he wanted to just kill Kakashi himself or give him to The Pink Harpy and watch him suffer.

The mission they did that day had to be the most humiliating and mission of them all, even worse than the time they had to baby-sit those brats that dumped their bag of flour all over him. Of all the chores they could have done in their tired state, they had to _chase down chickens_ for the clients. It did not help that Sakura had slipped in a puddle of horse shit and had to pull him down with her. The Leech had kept up a string of moaning about how her clothes were smelly and horse-poop in her hair all the while attaching herself to his arm. Naruto was worse, showing off with his Kage Bunshins catching them all easily without doing anything himself. By the time all the stray chickens were rounded up, Sasuke was _seething._

They reported the mission success to Kakashi and he smiled at them, oh how he wished he could punch that smile off his face, and told them they did a good job. Sasuke looked at the Losers, Airhead seemed to be a few minutes away from blowing up,_ unfortunately, that idea seemed too good to be true,_ and Moron close behind. He arranged his face in what he hoped was a neutral expression that did not show his inner fury.

They delivered the mission report to the Hokage before returning to the training ground that Kakashi seemed to be favoring.

"What will we need for our C-rank mission tomorrow Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura seemed to ask a smart question for once.

Kakashi looked at them all before decided to answer Sakura's question with a rarely-seen, serious look in his eye that surprised Sasuke.

"Pack everything you need for about a couple of days, maybe more. Some extra bandages and ration bars would be good too. You'll be receiving the mission details tomorrow."

The Pink-Haired Extra Luggage gulped.

"Is it that serious Kakashi-sensei?" She asked. Sasuke sneered at her. _Obviously, stupid._

"Kakashi-sensei thinks we could do it. He wouldn't accept the mission if he thought we couldn't do it. Right sensei?" Naruto comforted Sakura.

_How pathetic, _Sasuke thought.

"Obviously you couldn't. How could the Dead-Last be of any use in combat?" Sasuke snorted.

He probably imagined it but he thought there was a hurt look on Naruto face before he got angry.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING YOU BASTARD!" He yelled before lunging at Sasuke. Sasuke himself got into a defensive stance before Kakashi caught hold of both their shirts.

"Now now boys, it's not the time to fight right now. It's best if we get some rest for tomorrow. We would need all our energy."

He let go of them both when he was sure they wouldn't attack each other and dismissed them.

Naruto brushed off the dirt on his tracksuit before walking away quietly but not before shooting one last glare at Sasuke.

"Don't glare at Sasuke-kun Naruto! You know he is right!" Sakura screamed at his back before offering to walk him back to his house. He shrugged her off before he too returned home, leaving Sakura alone with Kakashi.

_Honestly, _he thought in his mind, _losers never prosper._

* * *

**Hi again!**

**This is more than twice as long as the prologue and I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

**I would like to thank all those who gave their time to read, review, favorite and follow my story, especially BigTimeNinjaXD, your review made me soo happy, I nearly cried!**

**Just to clear things up, I don't think Sasuke spends his whole time thinking of Revenge, I mean Honestly, is that even possible? And this is his point of view, not because he's my favorite character mind you, he's my least favorite one, but because it is critical to the plot. And I don't think he's too OOC because while he's an unemotional git on the outside, he still has emotions on the inside no matter how sarcastic or and what's the word, angsty (so what if it isn't a word get over it) he is.**

**I would love to hear your opinions, and suggestions and I would accept and constructive criticism as long as it's meaningful. If there are any questions you would like to ask me, send a review or a PM!**

**-TheNotSoInnocentGirl**

**P.S. I would probably update every two to three weeks, four if there is any delay. But because you guys are awesome, I uploaded extremely early now. I won't promise any in the future.**

**P.P.S. I forgot to do the disclamier the last chapter so...  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Naruto or any related items and media other than souvenirs and the plot.  
**

**This disclaimer includes every chapter I write here so I don't feel the need to repeat myself every time. (It has to be obvious though, this site is called )  
**


	3. Ch 2: The Main Problem

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…

* * *

**-Chapter Two-**

**The Main Problem**

* * *

"When facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed."

"He will cause a great deal of trouble for me later on."

* * *

Sasuke sat up straight in his bed. Another bad night it seemed. He looked at his alarm clock. Five in the morning, still too early and he couldn't sleep. He groaned, his nightmares seemed to be getting worse and he could feel the impending headache that was sure to come would be a killer. Was it so hard to be given a nice peaceful night before going on a dangerous mission to God knows where?

He closed his eyes, blanked out his mind and prayed for some sleep.

A minute passed, and Sasuke shifted his pillow.

After a couple more minutes, he sighed.

After ten minutes, it seemed like sleep wouldn't be coming easy for the Uchiha.

Half an hour passed and Sasuke finally gave up his attempt and observed the cracks on the ceiling. _When we complete the mission, I'll have someone repair the cracks._

* * *

When 8 'o clock came, Sasuke was still lying in his futon staring at the cracks. He was aware of the sun rising steadily outside his window but chose to ignore it. He was too damn _tired._

When he finally brought himself to getting up, he thought about the mission they were supposed to complete. Kakashi had told them to pack for about couple of days, obviously there was a chance of camping outdoors. Ration bars and bandages meant some form of combat. Altogether, they had a C-rank that involved combat and camping. He smirked. They finally seemed to be getting something interesting now.

Sasuke dragged himself to his feet and went to pack his supplies. The lack of sleep made him sluggish and forgetful; he nearly forgot his extra set of kunai and almost ate his favorite fūma-shuriken. The bandages got torn up and the sleeping bag got misplaced before Sasuke decided to splash cold water on his face and rearrange his pack.

When he felt sufficiently satisfied with his pack, he headed towards the training grounds and waited at his team's unofficial meeting where he settled down to wait for his useless teammates. He didn't have to wait long as after about ten minutes Naruto came running down the path with his rucksack bouncing on his back. The Idiot ignored him and stood leaning on a tree, looking at the sky. Sakura came seconds after Naruto, latching onto him like the blood-sucking parasite she was. He sighed and subconsciously trained his eyes on the path that their teacher would surely walk on to meet them. His mind didn't seem to register what his eyes told him, after all, it couldn't be true, but he knew he surely wasn't hallucinating.

Kakashi was walking leisurely to meet them; his eye in that annoying U-shape that he felt was mocking them. The annoyances noticed this fact and were mercifully quiet for once, their jaws hitting the ground.

"You- you're early!" he stuttered, before clearing his throat, (because Uchiha Sasuke didn't stutter), much to the obvious amusement of his supposed teacher.

Naruto and Sakura were still too shocked to speak.

"Ah, haha, well you see the thing is," Kakashi seriously, "this is a dangerous mission and I would like to be there on time to help prepare my cute students."

Sasuke blinked along with his teammates. Was this mission really that hard? He smirked.

"B-but sensei, is this mission really dangerous?" said the Pink-Haired Menace. You would think that she's smart enough to know that.

"It is obviously dangerous when you take in the reactions of the people in the Mission Assignment Room and the fact that Kakashi came early," he stated. The Harpy had _hearts_ in her eyes and was drooling.

"YOU'RE SO COOL SASUKE-KUN!" _Maybe I shouldn't have said that._

"Shut up Sakura. You're hurting my ears," he said

Naruto scowled but didn't speak, which was a bit odd as the Idiot always stood up for his crush. Sakura noticed this too. But when they looked at him, he wouldn't meet their eyes.

Shrugging, Sasuke turned to the older man who seemed to be frowning at him and his female counterpart.

"What is the mission about Kakashi?" he asked, ignoring the frown.

"Ah, you're rude so I won't tell you," Kakashi said.

All three students fell down, anime-style.

"But you'll get the details later but for now you have to know the important parts," the jōnin said, serious this time.

"This is essentially a combat mission, fighting will be involved. It is harder than any C-rank mission you have tried. The main objective is to get rid of bandit groups. That is all you guys need to know for now, as we are needed to report to the client by tomorrow evening at the latest. Are you guys ready?"

Naruto barely waited for their teacher to finish.

"I am ready, dattebayo!"

Sakura hesitated, before nodding surely.

"Me too Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke.

_Does he even need to ask?_

"Hn. Of course."

The white-haired man smiled at them, or seemed to anyway, before nodding.

"Then let's go!"

And they walked out of the village gates.

* * *

Tree-hopping is a very useful skill to have for a shinobi from Konoha. It not only made travel easier but much faster as well. It was especially helpful if you had to travel within the Land of Fire, where the extensive forests and tall tree make travel through that area harder and long.

The genin of Konohagakure no Sato learned this essential skill early in their educational path as shinobi. Any ninja from the Village of the Hidden leaves who did not know this skill were not expected to last very long as the looming canopies in this country were the safest you could get in those treacherous forests crawling with poisonous plants and flesh-eating animals. The 'Forest of Death in Konoha was just a mere imitation of the great jungles in their country.

Even then, many people dared to venture in these dangerous grounds but sooner or later, they too went back or died trying. The trees told tales of the lives of those extremely stupid who tried, and kept adding to those stories. After all, people were terminally stupid.

* * *

"YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT THERE ARE ACTUAL BANDITS LIVING IN THESE FORESTS?" yelled Haruno Sakura while her teammates and teacher were nursing their ears.

"_Quiet down Sakura_," hissed Kakashi. "You don't know what you could disturb in this place."

Uchiha Sasuke sighed, cursing the Gods once again for giving him this team. They were now speeding through the tree-tops on their way to meet the client when Kakashi decided to finally give them the details and now, he was suffering from Sakura's outburst.

"But these forests are dangerous Kakashi-sensei! Who in their right mind would want to live here?" she whispered.

"It might be dangerous here but sometimes easier too, especially for bandits where the forest provides ideal hiding places and all the more nobody would think to search there."

Sasuke decided to ask his question.

"Who actually is the client and why did they request for this mission?"

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei. Who actually is the client? And why the hell are we supposed to meet them? Can't they come to Konoha to meet us?" Sasuke was surprised because that was _another_ meaningful question that came out of _Naruto's _mouth.

"You're actually right Naruto. Why do we have to meet the client sensei?" Sakura inquired curiously.

Sasuke too was curious. It was a bit odd as most of the C-rank clients were at the village to receive a team that accepted their mission and he wanted to know, _I hate not knowing._

"Well, that is because our client is not a person, but a town." Kakashi answered.

"What do you mean by 'it's a town' Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto stated the obvious. His face was scrunched up as if he was trying to pick the answers from Kakashi's words. _Idiot._

Kakashi was about to reply when Sasuke decided to take the chance to prove himself greater.

"He means that the town requested a team from Konoha to help with a problem that they are incapable of solving. Surely you're not that stupid to not get that." The Dead-Last's face got red, from both embarrassment and anger.

"Shut the hell up Sasuke! I'm not that stupid, I knew it but I was just asking to see if I was right!" he yelled. Sasuke snorted,

"I doubt that."

"Hey teme-"

"Will both of you just keep it in for once?" Kakashi asked them exasperatedly. "Yes you are correct Sasuke." He sighed before telling them the rest of the details.

"We are supposed to report at Nikkō Inn Town by sundown tomorrow at the latest. They are having some problems with the bandit groups in their area that were affecting the tourism in the town."

"But sensei, isn't this a B-rank mission? Fighting bandits?" Sakura asked worriedly. Sasuke was honestly surprised that she was asking this question now. He expected her to say her doubts when they were still in the Konoha, not when they were hours away from village on their way to the client town

"Actually it is a high C-rank but not a B-rank. Because they are only bandits, they are given to the more experienced genin teams. But since you guys survived an A-rank, I thought you would like this mission. Besides the fact that I trust your fighting skills" answered the jōnin.

The three genin felt their chests swell with pride; their sensei trusted their skills.

"THEN LET'S GO SHOW NIKKŌ WHAT WE'VE GOT GUYS!"

"SHUT UP NARUTO!"

"_Keep quiet!"_

* * *

It was an hour or two after sunset before Kakashi finally let his team rest for the night. While the day wasn't hard, they had to have their full strength for tomorrow; it was their first combat mission and they needed all the energy they could get.

Kakashi watched his students as they each did their tasks. He had to admit Naruto's talent in the Kage Bunshin Technique was quite handy. While the said boy was sitting by the fire toasting his marshmallow, his clones were in the forest gathering more wood. That had earned him a jealous glare and a shout to 'STOP BEING LAZY BAKA!' from his teammates. Kakashi himself was a bit proud of his efficient use of that technique; he preferred that his student didn't use that technique every time he was assigned a chore if not for his own good but for Kakashi's ears as well.

Naruto had grown for sure from the loud, prank-loving, orange-obsessed kid who used to proclaim loudly that he would be the Hokage. While he was still loud and obsessed with orange, he had matured; he didn't pranks anymore and toned down a bit on the 'becoming Hokage' part. He was determined, passionate and inspired everyone around him. He also was a genius when it came to battle. Kakashi had no doubts that the boy would achieve his dream like his father before him.

As for Sakura, he had little hope now. The girl was still a fan-girl no matter what he said to try and dissuade her. Even though her taijutsu was horrendous, her ninjutsu abysmal, and almost no chakra reserves, her chakra control was perfect. With a bit more training she might even surpass him that. She well-suited for genjutsu and medical technique, she had a long way to go before he considered her acceptable. The Chūnin Exams were coming up in a couple of months and if that didn't motivate her then he didn't think she was suited to the shinobi lifestyle.

But of the three genin under his care, the one Kakashi wasn't sure about was Sasuke. He didn't know what to think of the boy. Saying that the boy was anti-social was an understatement. The boy hated company. While he was a skilled ninja, he didn't have the mindset of didn't think anything of his teammates' capabilities. There were times when the boy would be considerate like at the Wave mission but since then he was colder than before. By the way things were going, he wouldn't be surprised if the boy took the 'Orochimaru path' like his brother.

Kakashi sighed. The train of thought was creeping away towards darker subjects and his mind did not like that. He watched his male students bickering about whose sleeping bag went where and had to hide his smile, even with his doubts, he still had faith that his team would pull through.

* * *

When the sun rose above the canopy of the forest, the three genin students of Team seven found themselves woken with the annoying effective noise of barking dogs next to their precious ears. This of course had set a chain reaction that involved Sakura jumping up and bumping into Sasuke and falling over Naruto. Kakashi didn't understand why they were so mad, only got mouthfuls of dirt, nothing serious!

The cleaning up of their campsite was much longer than necessary, about an hour or so. Kakashi could be heard muttering about teaching the brats the basics of fūinjutsu just to get rid their whining of their whining. They could blow up for all he cared. But when they finally erased all traces of them being there, you could see four figures jumping into the trees with faces so joyful, they would make Barney puke.

They were hopping across tree branches in tense silence. In fact, the quiet was a bit unnerving to Sasuke as he was always surrounded by unbearably loud people, so much that he considered it a bad omen, because after all the time that he had spent praying for this, Kami-sama had to choose this moment for granting his wishes? That sounded a bit far-fetched, even for him. And so, the silence continued.

The trip to Nikkō was shorter than Kakashi had expected (surprise, surprise). It was just after midday when they saw a small wooden fence that marked the outer boundaries of the small inn town an about another hour before they reached the town gates.

Soon Team Seven found themselves giving their names and purpose to the man watching gates and entered the town where they were walking through the streets with directions to the town leader's residence.

"Amazing! There are so many shops and hotels here!" Sakura exclaimed joyously.

It was true, for the streets were lined up with inns and stalls, shops and hotels, of different colours, all selling merchandise to the people who came here to rest. The town had a festive air, almost like a carnival. The streets were bustling with people, tourists and natives exploring the different shops and stores. The pre-teens were amazed, even Sasuke, having never seen anything like it before.

Kakashi decided to give his students a ninja lesson. He pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, showing a map of The Land of Fire and its neighboring countries before he started the lesson in a voice that was eerily similar Umino Iruka's when he was lecturing the students at the Academy.

"Nikkō is a prominent town along the trade route between Konoha and Kusa," here he pointed to a dot on a red line that joined the respective villages, "it is one of the few resting places found on this road. It is famous for its sweets and hotels so it's very popular with the merchants and have to cater to all the needs of the traders passing through this area," he concluded, returning the scroll to his weapons' pouch and smiling at them.

All three genin had a look of annoyance on their faces.

"We're not Academy students' sensei," gritted out Naruto before it was replaced by shock when Sakura smashed her fist into his head.

"Shut it baka! It very useful information and we needed it!" she yelled, making all three males wince and the townspeople to stare at them.

"Itai Sakura-chan, that hurt!" yelped out Naruto. And he had a point, it wasn't necessary to hit him.

"He's right Le-er, Sakura, you were annoyed too," Sasuke pointed out.

The Pink Maggot blushed but didn't say a word. The situation became awkward so Kakashi hastened to change to subject.

"The activity is greater at this time of the year due to Kusa's Ancestors' Festival, where the trade is at its greatest height, so there are a lot of Konoha merchants travelling along this road." At his words, his students studied the people intensely.

"You're right Kakashi-sensei," whispered Sakura in wonder. "I see Satou-san from the clothes boutique Ino-pig goes to, and Tanaka-san from the leather goods store, and-" was all she managed to say before she was rudely interrupted by Naruto.

"WOW! AND I COULD SEE THAT FAT GUY FROM THE –mmph mmmmmph!" Sasuke decided to take things into his own hands, literally. He could feel the heat of the Idiot's glare and felt a chill run down his spine but he tried to ignore it. Sasuke did not want to admit it but Naruto's glare was _deadly_. He himself glared at the people who had started to stare at their group and the disbanded quickly enough. He felt a sense of satisfaction, knowing had scared away a crowd; until Naruto bit his hand.

Sasuke yelped (something he would soon deny as Uchiha Sasuke _never_ yelped) and quickly retracted his hand, glaring first at The Moron then at his teacher who had the nerve to snicker at his predicament. He was about to yell (say, not yell) before the Banshee took this chance to mollycoddle him.

"Oh my God Sasuke-kun, are you okay, are you hurt, is it bleeding?" she kept chattering non-stop, making his ears bleed. He roughly shoved her away but then he received the sight of Naruto baring his teeth at him as a reward for his efforts. He shifted away from his teammate when he caught sight of Naruto's sharper-than-humanly-possible canines. His hand throbbed painfully and bled where that bastard had bit him. He made a silent oath to never put any body parts of his near that sharp and deadly mouth of the Orange Fool.

"Now that we're all finished making fools out of ourselves in front of potential clients, I would like to inform you that we're there." Kakashi piped up in a very annoyed tone. Three heads popped up and saw a large house in the middle of a huge garden. It wasn't even a house, it was a mansion, roughly the size of the Hokage Residence back in Konoha.

The house was about three stories high, and appeared to be made from red bricks instead of the usual concrete used. It was decorated with marble pillars and wide balconies, but none of it compared to the garden. It was green and filled with flowers of every kind, even some exotic-looking ones that looked a bit poisonous. The lawn was scattered with fountains and statues that made the whole estate look luxurious. To Team Seven, the scene looked was overkill honestly.

They strode down the path through the garden and stopped at the door. Kakashi lifted his hand to ring the doorbell but before he could do anything, the door cracked open and a servant peered at them curiously. When she saw their hitai-ates, their forehead protectors, she opened the door completely and quickly ushered them inside.

They were led down a hall that looked like it was supposed to be dining room made of marble and completely cluttered with various junk such as paintings and vases and carpets. It seemed like the town leader was obsessed with luxury.

The servant girl seemed to know what they were thinking as she looked at them sheepishly.

"Kizoku-sama likes expensive things," she told them. "He's proud of his name and likes to live up to it." She looked thoroughly embarrassed by her employer.

They nodded. It did make sense when you thought about it. They continued on their way as the girl led them to a door at the far end of the corridor. She stopped and took a deep breath before turning to them and smiled sheepishly.

"Don't be bothered if Kizoku-sama doesn't respect you or if his attitude gets on your nerves. He's like that to everyone so please don't take it personally," she advised them shyly before knocking on the door. At first no sound came out before a snooty voice rang out from behind the door.

"Who is it and why are you bothering me?" The voice had a certain whiny quality that grated on their ears.

"It's Ayaka Kizoku-sama. I'm sorry to bother you sir but the shinobi you requested have arrived," the girl, Ayaka, replied.

The voice sighed before giving its answer.

"Very well then, send them in."

Ayaka opened the door and ushered them in quickly before rushing out. The room they were turned out to be an office, an elegant, _luxurious _office, just like the rest of the house. Their eyes were drawn to the portly figure of a man in an expensive-looking silk robe slumped down an arm chair that could have fit two men. The man who they assumed was Kizoku-sama was reading a document with squinting eyes while propping his slipper-clad feet on the mahogany desk. The man seemed to thoroughly ignore them for a few minutes until Kakashi deemed it fit to clear his throat. He looked up lazily not unlike the white-haired man in front of him and regarded the jōnin intently with his sharp grey eyes, then transferred his gaze to the fidgeting genin.

"They are much younger than expected Hatake-san," he said in a nonchalant manner. "I knew Hokage-sama might be sending genin for my mission request but I expected them to be much older than this."

Naruto looked ready to pounce on the man but Kakashi gave him a look. The white haired man didn't even seem bothered that he knew his name.

"They might be young but they have a lot of potential. And I have trust in their abilities," he told the town leader politely. It would do more harm than good to be less than well-mannered to the client.

"Hmm," Kizoku nodded. "I assume you are here to receive the details of this mission I requested." It was a statement, not a question. _This man seems smart enough_, Kakashi thought, _very shrewd._ When the jōnin nodded, Kizoku sighed.

"Very well," he said and began his explanation.

"As you might know, Nikkō is very well known in this season due to the trade routes being crowded, the trade between Konoha and Kusa especially so. Due to Nikkō's strategic location, we receive massive amounts of tourists this time of the year; most of them are the merchants and traders on their way to Kusa."

"And they're prime targets for bandits," concluded Kakashi. Kizoku nodded again, looking impressed for a moment before continuing.

"Yes, you're right Hatake-san, they are prime targets. And the bandits are the main problem." He sighed again.

"In the past few years, Nikkō had some trouble with these bandits, but nothing big, just some rare ambushes. However as the years passed, they grew bolder and attracted more company as well." He reached into a drawer underneath his desk and pulled out a map of the area. He laid the map on the table and the shinobi could see groups of dots around the town.

"You see these dots here? These are every reported site of bandit attacks and sightings over the years. There are about four major bandit groups here and they ambush almost every other merchant group that comes here. Due to the increasing attacks on traders, Nikkō has been receiving less and less visitors every year. Now we barely get any tourists now."

"So you want us get rid of the bandits," Kakashi stated the obvious. He expected to hear Naruto declaring that he could do it but thankfully, him and his teammates had enough sense to keep quiet during their debriefing. He looked at their client for confirmation.

"Yes. I have already sent the money to the Hokage so I expect you do a good job," he replied. He sighed again, and his eyes took an almost lazy look before he waved them away.

"Now go do your mission, I expect you to finish by next week."

They bowed before walking out of the office where they were greeted by Ayaka. She led them down the hallway once again, past those horribly antique paintings and to the main entrance. She thanked them once again before closing the door and sending them into the night.

They walked through the streets quietly for about ten minutes before Naruto and Sasuke argued about where they would stay for the night. Just as the argument threatened to melt Kakashi's brain, Sakura punched Naruto in the head and told him to listen to his other teammate. This in turn caused the fight to get louder until Kakashi put his foot down and entered the nearest inn available.

The brats finally settled down enough to eat dinner in an orderly fashion, at least as orderly as possible with Naruto inhaling his food. When they finished, they went out to take a nice, relaxing and hot bath; for who knows how long they had to wait to take another one before they finally settled down to rest after their long day.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, when does the mission actually start?" inquired Naruto when they getting into their futons.

The said man smiled at him before replying.

"Tomorrow Naruto, so you guys had best get some sleep."

"But that man seemed a bit rude didn't he sensei?" asked Sakura quietly.

"Now that I think about it, he didn't think we could do they mission. That bastard!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

"You can think?" asked Sasuke in a snarky manner.

Naruto was about to retaliate before Kakashi addressed them.

"Glad that you guys could keep your opinion to yourselves back there. Now quit whining and get to sleep, we're going to wake up early."

The three grumbled before finally accepting defeat and closing their tired eyes. Soon, all Kakashi heard was their light breathing and soft snoring.

He smiled softly, before he himself fell asleep.

* * *

**This is the second chapter of my story, I hope you guys like it. Sorry if the last part was a bit hurried but I had to rush to finish it. There is a bit less Sasuke here because I kinda I wanted a bit more Kakashi here, to let you know how he feels about his team and all. **

**I would really love to hear your opinions so please review! Follows and favorites can only give you names and faces but reviews give you your personalities. If I make a mistake I would like you guys to tell me if I did. Your views, your likes, tell me please! I want to know if you hate any part of my story or think I should change anything. You can ask or me anything!**

**Thank you guys for supporting a rookie author like me, especially Akatsuki Leader13.**

**Later, dattebayo!**


	4. Ch 3: Small Fry Are Just Too Easy

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…

* * *

**-Chapter Three-**

**Small Fry Are Just Too Easy**

* * *

"Our mission was to protect you from thieves and bandits…"

"You guys will receive training… You won't be able to defeat him without me."

* * *

There was a ringing noise in Sasuke's ears. He groaned quietly and instinctively shifted his head away from the unwanted sound. The sound repeated once again and this time he stuck his head under his pillow. When he heard that damn noise for the third time, he gave up. He opened his eyes blearily and saw his teacher's masked visage _three inches from his face. _This startled him so violently he jumped out of his futon and skittered back a couple of steps.

"Good morning Sasuke!" the man had the nerve to say, holding a plate and a spoon in his hand. _Well that cleared out the mystery of that annoying gonging sound. _He glared heatedly at the man. Kakashi smirked under his mask (Sasuke could tell and the aura of smugness radiating from the jōnin helped) and pointed to the Banshees.

"Wake up your teammates now, we're leaving in about fifteen minutes," the man informed him, jovially before walking out of the room.

Sasuke sighed. He contemplated leaving them there to oversleep but he knew they had to leave quickly. He reluctantly knelt over Sakura, shaking her until he was sure she wouldn't fall asleep before kicking Naruto in the ribs for his satisfaction. When they finally sat up, he repeated Kakashi's words to them before leaving them and going to the bathroom.

When he came out, he saw that the futons were folded away and the two idiots were waiting behind the door. While Naruto and Sakura took their turns going to freshen up, Sasuke ate a quick breakfast and occupied himself with checking all his supplies. They others mimicked his actions and soon they found themselves waiting in front of the door for their sensei to return. (It was a testament to how tired they all were when neither Sakura jumped on Sasuke nor Naruto uttered a single remark against him)

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait for long as Kakashi appeared less than five minutes after they started waiting. He took a good look at them and chuckled, resulting in the three all glaring holes into his back. He ignored them and led them through the empty streets (for who would be awake at five in the freaking morning) occasionally looking back to see if they were following him.

When they finally reached the gates, Kakashi nodded to the man who looked half asleep and soon they reached the forest. By now, Sasuke and his teammates were fully awake and took to the trees after their teacher. They followed him quietly until they reached a clearing away from prying ears and eyes. Kakashi signaled them to stop and they jumped down to the ground. Kakashi beckoned them closer and unfurled the map given to him by Kizoku that morning.

"Now listen carefully," he whispered quickly, "I'm not going to repeat myself twice."

"We start our mission now, our objective to get rid of the various bandit groups terrorizing these roads; it is very dangerous combat mission for you guys you have to listen to exactly what I say, understand?"

They nodded.

"Good," he seemed satisfied.

"Now," he continued, "we've got exactly one week to finish this mission so I took the liberty of borrowing this map form the client."

He showed the said object to them and watched them observe it quietly, they didn't get the chance to examine it closely back in front of the town leader but they did so now. The map was a simple one of Nikkō and they area beyond it. It showed the forest around the town green and a few springs in blue. But the most unusual things about it were the strange red dots concentrated in groups in the green expanse of the jungle.

"It seems a bit hard Kakashi-sensei, there are a lot of bandits here," Sakura observed, looking at the map intently.

"We should finish off those smaller groups first before heading out the bigger ones. They must be unorganized if they didn't already ally themselves with the others, easy pickings." Sasuke gave his opinion.

"Good plan Sasuke. Yes we should probably take on the smaller groups they would unorganized and easy, just as Sasuke here mentioned, but its best if we do this quietly, it'll be harder if they're on guard."

"But Kakashi-sensei, there must be about eleven small bandits here! How they hell are we supposed to finish them off and the bigger groups in one week?" Naruto whisper-yelled.

His two teammates looked at him disbelievingly. Naruto actually had doubts?!

"Maa, don't worry Naruto, I repeat, they are small and unorganized, think of them as armed civilians. Not that hard to fight now are they? We could probably take on three to four of them in a day," Kakashi tried to assuage his doubts. He probably succeeded as Naruto grinned at him. The Copy-Nin continued.

"Now, today, we'll take out the four smallest gangs and then attack the bigger ones. You must follow my every order and we must travel quickly and quietly, do you understand?" He looked at Sakura and Naruto when said this. Sasuke barely restrained a snort from coming out of his mouth. Instead he scoffed quietly. _The Twin banshees can't ever be quiet._

The Idiot surprisingly refrained from answering him,probably because their teacher's glare on him but settled with giving him the stink eye.

"Of course sensei!" he chirped quietly. He was followed by the other banshee while Sasuke shook his head.

Kakashi nodded.

"Now the first group is about half a mile due east of our position, so we should hurry if we want to finish off our four groups."

"Hai," they all said together, before they jumped up to the tree-tops.

* * *

Kakashi signaled the group of genin behind him to stop. He watched the group of thieves from his perch on a tree branch as his students joined him.

"What do we do know Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura quietly. She had her doubts when they were discussing the mission but when she saw the so called bandits, her hope had risen a bit.

Sasuke barely listened to her as he scrutinized the scene before him. There were about six thieves sitting around a long-extinguished campfire, laughing raucously and telling indecent jokes that nearly had him blushing. They were quite obviously drunk, even at this time of the morning. They were poorly dressed and even more poorly armed. Quite the easy targets. He averted his eyes and listened to his teammate finish her sentence.

"We should probably take them all out at once, they would be caught off guard and have no time send out an alarm or go for their weapons. Each one of us goes for one of them, and I could use my Kage Bunshin," observed Naruto, watching their targets intently. He noticed that his teammates were gaping at him, their jaws hitting the forest floor below.

"What?" he growled out, slightly irritated. The rest of the group continued to stare at him for a few seconds. Sasuke was the first to regain his voice.

"That's a reasonable plan, idiot. We're just surprised that you actually had enough cobwebs in your head to think of it," he smirked, hiding his surprise expertly because _that actually was a good plan!_

"Sasuke-kun is right Naruto, that is a great plan! How come you thought it up?" Sakura repeated his words. Sasuke thought he saw the Moron's shoulders slumped down a bit but it surely had be a trick of the light. He turned to their team leader to hear his opinion.

"Yes Naruto, it is an excellent strategy. The best we can come up with for now so chose your targets quickly. Naruto create your clones now," the Copy Nin ordered quickly. Naruto nodded and quickly formed two clones then waited for the next order.

"Now team," Kakashi turned to them, "since I don't feel like it's the time for your first kill already," he paused dramatically and watched his students' reactions (Sasuke paled and both Naruto and Sakura turned green) before continuing, "We'll just knock them out. Just wait for my signal." They nodded and waited and soon jumped behind their specific targets waiting. When Kakashi gave the signal, they swooped down onto them like hawks on their prey.

The fight was over before it even began. The men didn't even notice their presence. _It was like taking a teddy bear from its shelf, _thought Sasuke, _it was just too easy. _They were now tying the men to acouple of trees where they would be collected by the local authoritiesat the end of the day.

"That was actually easy sensei!" Sakura exclaimed wondrously, as she if she could hardly believe it. It seemed like she had expected something like the Wave mission.

"Of course, these half-rate thieves are no match for the might of ninja!" Naruto yelled out for the whole forest to hear, an impossibly wide grin adorning his face.

"_Shut up moron,"_ hissed Sasuke, "do you want to reveal our presence to the targets?"

"Hey bastard, keep quiet!" Naruto returned his jab, albeit lamely.

"Now now children, that's enough," Kakashi tried to calm them down, his hands up to keep the peace. It seemed to work because they quieted down, but were annoyed by the term children if the scowls they sent his way meant anything.

"Now that we're all calm, I think it's best to inform you guys that we've got to finish our duty." He took the map from out of his jacket pocket and studied it before crossing out the dots in their current position.

"There is another group an hour's way due north so let's hurry now!" And Kakashi jumped into the trees.

The younger ninja nodded soon followed their teacher.

* * *

In the elemental countries, civilians considered bandits to be great thieves, the dangerous and tough type of thieves. They were avoided at all costs for they were known to rob everyone and anyone who unfortunately happened to be in their way. They were merciless, they were heartless, not caring who they killed and robbed, women, children and elderly included. They were common, deadly, and feared by all.

Well, all except the shinobi of course. For shinobi were the civilians' heroes. They were thought to be their talismans against these thieves. And they had a good reason to, for shinobi considered bandits to be nothing more than nuisances, mere cockroaches against their might. They were the ultimate defense of the civilians. Bandits were easy pickings to them because how could they, mere civilians wielding weapons, be of any danger to those who lived to kill?

On the other hand, these bandits feared ninja. They feared them like how rat fears the cat waiting outside its den. They could handle merchants, they could handle normal guards, but they could not handle shinobi. The shinobi were bogeymen, they were their predators; they stood no chance against them. Most of the time, they ignore them, let them be but if they weren't careful, they would hunt them down, erase their existence. And they could not fight it. For how could one fight against these _gods of the jungles?_ They were in their territory, they could do nothing.

* * *

This time they did not need to stop to plan. They simply repeated Naruto's plan and each took out their targets. This time it was a bit harder as these men weren't completely drunk but it was still too easy. They tied them up again left quickly, following their teacher.

"Come on kids, it's time for our lunch break," Kakashi called out before dropping down in a clearing where he stood waiting for his students. While they resented the kids comment, they were hungry and quickly jumped down to eat their lunch.

They unpacked their bags and took out their lunches and ate them in silence.

"It's a ten minute break so you better eat up quickly," The white-haired jōnin decided to break the peace in the clearing. The glares and killer intent that were sent his way would have been enough to make Orochimaru flee as if Manda was chasing him. Because he was the lesser man, even when he tried to look away, the glares caused chills to run down his spine and his brain swam with visions of revenge and pink flashes of pain and humiliation like never before and ramen down his pants so like the good chicken he was, he decided to listen to his sense of self-preservation and he backtracked quickly.

"I was kidding, twenty minute break, it's twenty minutes!" he put his hands in front of him as a sign of what he hoped was a soothing gesture band also in case he had to defend himself. He held in a sigh of relief when the glares were averted and the genin returned their attention to their food. _How the hell did three measly genin get the glare and KI of the Ky__ū__bi itself? _He shook his head and unpacked his own lunch while trying to inconspicuously move away from his students.

Sasuke ate his tasty, tomato-filled onigiri slowly; he had to enjoy his food after all and he was exhausted. The mission itself wasn't hard, it was how much they had to travel to reach the campsites. Without any breaks. He wondered if Kakashi was acquainted with the green freak that ran laps around the village on his hands every morning screaming about youth. It seemed likely enough.

He finished his delicious onigiri and ate the extra tomato he had packed then took a sip from his bottle of water. They still had about ten more minutes of rest; lying down wouldn't hurt one bit. He stretched his legs, put his arms behind his head and lied down on the grass and closed his eyes. The peace and quiet was very relaxing. He was about to drift off into the welcoming nothingness…

"BOO."

"YAAARGH!" Sasuke jumped about ten feet high and fell to the ground in an undignified heap, startled. It took him a couple of seconds to comprehend what happened before the shocked look in his eyes turned into a gaze of absolute fury, a face that he would have given his damn bastard of a brothe- wait, that man wasn't family- if he ever saw him again. He turned his furious face and saw the Orange Abomination laughing his ass off while the Pink Freak tried to stifle her giggles and glared at the boy.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sasuke said, he did not yell at all because Uchiha Sasuke never yells, glaring at the Orange Monkey.

"Nothing Sasu-chan," Sasuke's glare intensified, "you were about to sleep so I had to wake you up." He said all of this with an innocent face that made the idea of punching him a bit hard to bear. He shook his head.

"But you disturbed Sasuke-kun's sleep Naruto!" How could you!" screamed the Pink Menace. _She sure isn't helping matters anyway, damn annoying teammates, my ears will bleed soon._

He heard snickering in the background and turned around just in time to see his teacher giving him that-annoying-upside-down-U-smile and coughing. He gave the jōnin a withering stare. The amused look he got in return did not help his temper. He finally sighed and sat down on the grass, nursing his ears. Naruto really did it this time. Another shout like that and he would go deaf.

Kakashi checked the time. As much as he enjoyed his students' antics, break time was over and they had to finish their objective for today.

"Let's go guys, break times over." He relished the groans of disappointment that came from his cute little genin before he added something helpfully.

"Come on now, the bandits aren't going to capture themselves, you guys know that," he told them smugly. He consulted the map while they packed away their possessions. Satisfied, he only waited to see if they were ready before he darted into the forest, three pre-teens following him.

* * *

The day went on smoothly and soon enough it was evening and too dark to continue. They got all four groups, today, all were surprisingly easy. The team, even Kakashi expected more resistance from them but they obviously were less-experienced civilian thieves wielding weapons. All in all, it was a successful day, but the three pre-teens hoped for something more of a challenge, including Sakura.

The run back to the Nikkō was also uneventful. When they reached the town, they headed off to the headquarters of the local police force where they gave the locations of the bandits they had apprehended and headed back into the inn they had occupied and all three slumped down onto the floor exhausted. Then the complaining started.

"I'm tired Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hey sensei, will all our missions be like this?"

"It was boring."

They turned to him to see his reaction. Kakashi merely sighed before he too sat down. He settled on ignoring, if you ignore them, they would go away, right?

"Hey sensei, how come you're not tired?"

"Kakashi-sensei, can we sleep in tomorrow?"

"You told us the mission was dangerous."

Kakashi sighed and continued to ignore them until their voices died down.

"Done?" he asked wryly.

Naruto growled, and looked ready to yell at him then thought better of and kept quiet. Sakura blushed but neither she nor Sasuke said anything.

"Good," he smiled at them. "Now this will be our schedule till we finish off all the small fry. I want no complaints no whines, no protests, unless you'd rather go after those bigger ones alone, I wouldn't mind. Got it?" he waited for them to nod.

"Now then, let us relax for tonight because I want everyone up at seven, hear?" Their grumbles were music to his ears.

And Kakashi went out to get to explore the town, leaving his students gaping behind him.

* * *

The next couple of days went by quickly. Team Seven woke up at seven thirty, got ready by eight, went to the forest, catch bandits, lunch, catch bandits, return and relax. So far, it was monotonous so it was absolutely normal for the three pre-teens to be sitting around the table, bored out of their minds.

"Kami-sama, I'm so bored!" yelled Naruto that nightz. Directly into Sasuke's ears.

"There's nothing to do here," sighed Sakura.

"Keh. I agree."

"Gasp! Sasuke you agree?" Naruto asked dramatically. Sasuke scowled.

"Shut up idiot."

"Yeah, shut up Naruto-baka!" Sakura glared at Naruto. This caused him to quiet down.

For ten seconds.

"By the way, where is Kakashi-sensei?" The other two paused to think about it.

"Now that we think about it, where is Kakashi-sensei? He disappears every night," wondered Sakura. It was actually a bit strange as every night he left them to relax as he went out himself.

"Hot springs?" suggested Naruto. Sasuke shook his head.

"He comes home dry, moron."

Sakura cut off Naruto before he could retort. "Maybe he went out to drink?"

"Nah, he doesn't seem to be the type," this one came from the orange-obsessed boy.

"What type?" asked a familiar voice from behind him. All three jumped and turned around quickly. The smiling face of their previously absent sensei greeted them from where he sat behind Naruto.

"H-hey there sensei," Naruto couldn't help but stutter. Their teacher caught them talking about him, and you couldn't blame him for being worried about the consequences.

But apparently, Sakura didn't have such worries.

"Where were you Kakashi-sensei?" she asked in a voice that was barely quiet enough to be considered normal. Sasuke didn't say a word. The situation didn't require him saying anything and he preferred being quiet. It made him seem more mature compared to the idiots on his team.

"Somewhere," the Copy-Nin remarked offhandedly. "Because we finished all the small targets, I think you guys deserved a bit of a rest tomorrow."

All three genin cheered, although Sasuke did so in his mind. The previous days were very tiring and while they expected it, rest sounded very good right now. And the prospect of getting the harder targets seemed exciting and the boy couldn't help but want to show them he could do it. He had to be the best of them, excluding Kakashi.

"But you guys have better get ready, because I think it's time we do some extra training," he heard Kakashi say, and snapped himself away from his thoughts. He was a bit surprised because he didn't really think bandits would be so much of a threat that they needed extra training. But he couldn't help but anticipate what Kakashi would teach them now; he still doubted the jōnin was strong, he didn't teach them anything much.

The other two were curious about this training too and they made it known quite vocally. Even Sasuke had to hold back the urge to ask Kakashi about their training, it wouldn't do if he appeared immature in front of them. The man just smiled at them.

"I would love to tell you all about the training," he said slowly to the hidden joy of his students, "but it would ruin the surprise!" Their shoulders slumped down in disappointment as they watched their teacher sit down to read his book.

And they spent the rest of the night discussing tomorrow's training programs in hushed tones.

* * *

**And this is the third chapiter ppl!**

**Personally, I'm not too sure about this one cuz it's shorter and it seems a bit filler to me.** **I would love to thank DarkSacredJewelXoX for giving me his/her opinion on my story. I would also like to thank Rosebunse and splitheart1120 for being the only people who reviewed the last chapter when I posted it. Do you guys know how sad it makes me when I see so little response? It just lowers my self-esteem. –sniff- **

**Kidding, but come on guys! I know you're all out there, give your opinions!**

**Now, onto my actual chapter, I'm not sure of my skill in writing fight-scenes which are greatly needed for my next chapters so if anyone is willing to help, please give me some tips. Also, I haven't made up my mind about what training our heroes will get from Kakashi so I'm open to suggestions made by the readers.**

**Now then, my school starts this week so please don't mind if my update schedule becomes a bit hectic. Besides, **_**I will never give up on this story unless I'm dead or if it's the end of the world.**_** If it's delayed, I would update eventually. This is to ease any worries you guys had.**

**Will try to update soon, dattebayo!**


	5. Ch 4: Being Stronger Is All That Matters

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

_And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…_

* * *

**-Chapter Four-**

**Being Stronger Is All That Matters**

* * *

"_I train every day to get stronger, to finally kill that man…""_

"_This team will certainly drag me down"_

* * *

When the sun was up next morning, Kakashi was greeted with the three excited faces of his genin. He smiled and got out of his futon slowly, all the while watching his students as they grew frustrated at his snail-like movements. He nearly chuckled when he saw them staring at him like there was no tomorrow.

When he finally finished packing his stray equipment, he turned to his students and gestured to the door. His students walked out willingly and he soon followed them. He led them through the streets, and they followed without complaint. They had already suffered the consequences of that so they trailed after him quietly.

The streets actually had people walking around in it rather than being completely empty like the previous mornings. The few people that were actually awake stared at them curiously like the first time they came to the town but otherwise ignored them. The three pre-teens were admittedly curious about where they were going. They obviously going to train but they didn't notice anywhere suitable enough for training. At least that was they thought until they saw Nikkō's Eien no Hana no Kōen*. The park was very big, almost as big the Academy back in Konoha and empty. Perfect for training.

They followed their sensei as he guided them through a gap in the trees into a fairly flat clearing that reasonably suitable for most types of training. The genin were surprised. They hadn't expected to find a place like this in Nikkō but it was to be expected as they barely had any time left to explore the town. Kakashi just watched them as they stared at scene around them, well, Sasuke just didn't seem interested and instead stared at him. But the quiet peacefulness of this place didn't seem to last long.

"Hey sensei, how the hell did you find out about this place?" Kakashi sighed._ Seems like the term 'silence' isn't in Naruto's vocabulary. _

"Watch your mouth Naruto!" _Not in Sakura's vocabulary either._ He was slightly thankful when Sasuke didn't say a word. Although that kid was a tad too silent for his taste.

"Now, now, we wouldn't want disturb the people sleeping, do we?" He asked his two loud students, which shut them up quickly. "Besides Naruto, I don't believe anyone of you had ever tried to visit the actual _fun _of this town so…" He trailed off. The said boy blushed and looked down.

"When do actually start training?" Sasuke asked quietly. That boy had a one-track mind when it came to training.

"For now, I want you guys to just spar with each other," he informed the boy. He looked satisfied with his answer, if not a bit irritated. He probably disliked the fact that he had to spar with Naruto since the orange-obsessed boy was weak in his eyes.

He watched as the boys settle into their battle stances, Sasuke in his clan's graceful Subayai Ken** while Naruto in a slightly modified version of the Academy taijutsu style. As soon as he gave the sign, the two boys jumped into action. As he observed the boys fight it out, he analyzed their movements, weaknesses, strengths, anything that spoke of their abilities. Teaching plans formed in his mind as watched Naruto use a clone to try to get Sasuke from his side while the rest of the clones distracted him. That boy had a penchant for trouble and on-the-fly-plans that would prove useful one day. The spar ended quickly enough though, going to Sasuke as he trapped his teammates in a skilled trap using wires and kunai, leaving the other boy complaining about how he cheated.

* * *

Sasuke looked up from the idiot's face to see their teacher watching them. He hoped he had something planned afterward otherwise the spar was useless.

He stepped away from the dead-last and went to pick up his discarded equipment, paying no mind to the screams of approval or complaints coming from his fellow genin. Although Naruto was getting slightly harder to beat, it was still too easy to defeat him. He held back a snort from coming escaping his throat at the mere thought of _Naruto _becoming a challenge. That would be impossible. He turned back to the team just in time to hear the white-haired man ask Sakura for a spar. He did snort this time although nobody heard him.

"Now Sakura, please get into position please so we could have a spar," Kakashi was saying to the fearful girl, but she just shook her head.

"But Kakashi-sensei, I can't spar properly," she tried to convince him but Kakashi waved off her excuses and repeated himself. The girl reluctantly settled into her fighting pose started attacking.

The entire fight was pathetic in Sasuke's opinion, all the while trying to ignore the yells of Naruto as he 'encouraged' his crush. While the Leech had some skills with shuriken and kunai, her taijutsu was horrendous, and the fight was short but she was _slightly _acceptable.

Kakashi seemed to finally got what he wanted, (Sasuke thought the white-haired man's thought was actually sensible, quite unlike what his habits showed them) as he quickly took out a storage scroll which he then unsealed to reveal some more scrolls. Sasuke had to admit he was curious about what the man was going to teach them to and from the curious questions that were present in his teammates' eyes, they too wondered what their team leader was going to teach them.

* * *

Although Kakashi felt more than saw the curious stares spearing his back, he did not comment on it. He liked making them suffer in anticipation. It was his petty retribution for all the times he had suffer headaches. It was petty but it was the only legal way to do so other than training.

Anyways, the choice of training was a bit strange and he was sure they had covered some of it in the Academy and while it was slightly useless with ninja fights, it would be much more useful against bandits. He carefully unfurled the scrolls (they were damn expensive, he had to waste a full A-rank pay on those) and quietly showed his students their contents. Their reactions were strangely curious.

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened when they saw the image that glared at them from the scroll, they must have recognized it and he wasn't surprised; they were they smartest students at the Academy. On the other hand, Naruto remained oblivious.

"Hey sensei, what the hell is that?" he asked a bit stupidly. Kakashi looked at the picture, then at his short student.

"I don't know Naruto, what do think it is?" he questioned, the slightest hint of sarcasm detectable in his voice. The orange-wearing boy studied the picture of the human body littered with various dots of different colors.

"I don't know," he shrugged looking a bit irked at that fact. Sasuke snorted quietly while Sakura gaped quietly at the boy. The shock wore off quickly before a fist appeared in Naruto's golden spikes.

"Itai Sakura-chan! What was that for?!" he yelled out loud.

"Are you dumb Naruto?! How can you not know what that is?!" she screamed, at the exact volume that would normally shatter glass. She glared at him as if she couldn't believe he was that dumb.

"Idiot, that is a pressure point guide (1)," Sasuke drawled out in a monotone but one could hear surprise in his voice as he studied the guide closely. Naruto's face flushed in anger.

"Bastard! I already knew that!" he yelled out loud. Kakashi sighed and waited for them finish.

Sakura bashed Naruto's head for 'insulting Sasuke-kun when he was trying to help' while Sasuke just muttered a quiet "Sure you did."

"Now guys, you're wasting precious training time." Kakashi finally cut in. He looked reproachfully at their sheepish faces.

"Yes Sasuke is right; this is a pressure point guide." Naruto glowered at his teammate.

"What is it for sensei? And what the hell are pressure points anyway?"

This time Sakura answered instead of him.

"Listen baka, pressure points are specific points on the human body that produces pain or other effects when manipulated in the correct manner and won't work every time!" Naruto looked thoughtful.

"So that means I can make someone feel pain just by poking them?" he asked curiously. You could hear Sakura face-palm.

"It's slightly more complicated than that Naruto," the man told Naruto.

"Now, I know you guys covered this slightly in the Academy but it would be better if you studied this in more detail. It might not always be useful against shinobi but it is good to know when you're forced to fight civilians."

"Like bandits," piped up Sakura.

He nodded.

"Now, each of take these scrolls and memorize the each dot on the guide and their specific colors, no excuses."

And he took out his favorite book and continued to read, ignoring the complaints coming from the blond boy as they started to read the scrolls.

* * *

The shinobi lifestyle was a dangerous career. Every ninja knew that. It wasn't that much of a secret really. Strange; everyone knew about the risks in a ninja's life but nobody really knew its _effect, _especially on one's mind. Almost all experienced ninja had some sort of odd habit, some flaunting it, proud of their difference, while others preferred to keep them in the dark. It is said that these odd personality quirks was the human mind's way of coping with the stress. Almost as if sentient, the brain develops these strange fetishes as its own self-defense mechanism, after all, no mind likes to be snapped.

But the Kage knew of this, for they were the only humans who had ever tried to do anything about it. They had a duty to the people in their command, so how could they let their faithful followers spiral down into depression, the trauma of their careers eating away at their hearts and souls, reduced into nothing but dry husks of their normal selves. It happens eventually, all they could do is to delay the ricochet.

Their methods were mostly subtle but many were quite forceful. Until now, not a single shinobi realized that all those breaks and forced retirements were for their own good. But then, most of them agreed that those breaks were enjoyable and every ninja needed a time off. Vacations, trips, relaxing baths, shopping, the bar, spending time with people. It didn't matter what sort of breaks they took as long as it kept them safe. It never mattered at all.

* * *

"Sasuke, wrist now!" Kakashi barked and Sasuke shot forward and pressed a spot on Naruto's wrist, causing Naruto to let go of the kunai in his hand in pain.

"Very good, Naruto shoulder!" This time, Naruto darted in and applied pressure on an area on Sasuke's shoulder, making the said boy twitch and try to move away.

"Excellent, Sakura knee, on both." Sakura ran towards the two boys and reluctantly japed somewhere on the boys' thighs, and they both collapsed quickly.

All three students looked at Kakashi, waiting to hear his opinion. The said man smiled at all of them, a little bit prod he had to admit.

"Great job all of you. I believe that this is the end of our training for today so please gather your equipment and let's go back to rest." Kakashi called out and waited patiently for them to collect their weapons and gear and soon, Team Seven found themselves once again walking the streets of Nikkō, the stares of the townspeople following them.

By now, it was noon and the town was crowded, even more so than the first day. They tried to be conspicuous, most people ignored them, but the stares of the rest were unnerving. In fact, they were so disconcerting that it was a bit of a relief to be back in the inn.

"Now guys, I'm going out for a while, so you're free for the rest of the day," came Kakashi's voice as soon as they entered their room. The pre-teens gave out appreciative sounds (Well, at least Naruto and Sakura did) as they lay down on the ground. Sasuke got up and went to the bathroom, obviously planning to have shower. Kakashi smiled and walked out the door. Suddenly, the onsen didn't seem to be a bad idea after all.

* * *

Sasuke came out of the shower quietly, not wanting to be seen, especially by Sakura. Sasuke just couldn't understand people's fixations on him really. But it was annoying so he dried his hair and decided to revise his scrolls for now.

The room was quiet for once so when he looked over to his teammates, he saw Sakura nodding off, with Naruto already asleep. He didn't try to break the silence, he sorely needed to finish his scrolls and a noisy environment wouldn't do. He almost finished them before Naruto's loud voice interrupted the peace.

"Hey bastard, what do you think about today's training?" Sasuke squashed down his annoyance and ignored him.

"Oi jerk, I was talking to you, dattebayo!" he repeated. Once again, Sasuke ignored him. Naruto tried to shout out again if Sakura hadn't interrupted him.

"Don't you think you're bothering Sasuke Naruto? He's trying to read!" Naruto stayed quiet, before answering his first question himself.

"But all those pressure thingies were awesome! Imagine knocking someone out, with one touch! I'd be called Killer Touch Naruto!" Sakura whacked a fist into his hair.

"Don't be stupid, well, more stupid than you already are. Pressure don't always work against ninja and you can't kill people with them (2)," Sasuke said. He regretted talking as soon as he felt the aura of 'love' radiating from Sakura.

"You are right Sasuke-kun! See Naruto, Sasuke said it is impossible to kill someone with a pressure point so don't be an idiot!"

Naruto slumped down a bit from where he sat but then perked up quickly.

"Say, we could go to explore the town for a while, it's boring here!" Sakura reddened.

"We're not allowed to stupid! We should just stay here and rest for tomorrow!"

"Actually," Sasuke interrupted, "Kakashi said we are free for the rest of the day, he didn't mention anything about not being allowed to go into town." Sakura did a 180.

"Of course Sasuke-kun, you're correct!" But Naruto beat her to the punch; he was already at the door wearing his sandals.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

* * *

At night, the town was even more crowded than in day. While it wasn't as fun as some of the festivals in Konoha and some other towns but it was nice. That atmosphere was cheerful and light-hearted. Most of the people they met were friendly and they did not mind trying out the different wares in the shops.

"Let's go to that shop now!" Sakura pulled the two boys towards a small shop that sold clothing, blushing since _she was holding Sasuke-kun's hand! _As if reading her thoughts, Sasuke rolled his eyes, unseen by his teammates.

Now that they had entered the shop, they could see that it wasn't small at all, but quite large and seemed top a wide range of clothing sold there. Sakura immediately squealed about how cute those dresses were and quickly ran into a changing room at the back, grabbing a number of clothing on her way.

On the other hand, the two boys felt a bit uncomfortable standing in the middle of a clothing shop filled with _girls only._

"Say, Sasuke, why do I get the feeling that people watching us?" Naruto 'whispered'. Sasuke merely twitched when he saw that Naruto was right. Most of the young girls in the store were staring at them hungrily, like wolves watching their prey. He couldn't help the shiver that crawled down his spine. Naruto edged closer to him.

"Is it just me, or are they coming closer?" he asked quietly, his voice tinged with fear. Sasuke paled a bit when he saw that Naruto was right. They were indeed converging onto them in a way that made Sasuke feel claustrophobic. He pulled the oblivious idiot towards the door and tried to get away inconspicuously. But when the girls moved in faster, Naruto took the lead and made a break for it. They ran out of the door and into the street, stopping when they reached the opposite side of the road.

"How the hell do you tolerate them? They're like monsters! Did you see the looks on their faces?" shrieked Naruto. The bystanders looked at them with pity before moving on. Now that Sasuke looked closer, he saw that most of the people, especially men avoided the store like plague; he felt stupid for not noticing it before.

He stood up and walked away, leaving his stupid teammates scrambling behind him and yelling.

"Where the hell are you going bastard?" Sasuke didn't deign him with a reply, but it only angered the blond boy further.

"What about Sakura-chan?" We can't leave her here!" Here Sasuke stopped.

"She is useless. I do not understand how she had ever made it to become a genin with her abilities now. She would just hold the team down." Naruto was shaking with fury. Sasuke guessed he wasn't happy with him insulting the girl, although he didn't really understand the idiot's fixation on the leech.

"So you're not going to give her a chance? So she is just like an ant? Is that what you mean?!" Now Sasuke was a bit glad that the street was nearly empty, Naruto's screams would have caused an undesirable commotion.

"It's obvious stupid. She was never meant to become a ninja." At those words, Naruto looked furious enough to behead him. Then, as if just thinking of an idea, he replied calmly.

"Then how about we make a bet bastard. If Sakura becomes an acceptable ninja in about half a year, I win but if she doesn't then you do. Is that fine?" Sasuke was a bit surprised by his idea. He would have expected Naruto scream or yell, hell even break a couple of things but a bet seemed to be a bit out of character. _But, _he thought smugly, _the idiot doesn't seem to be that smart or lucky. His loss._

"Alright dead-last, you're on." Somehow, Sasuke got the feeling that it meant more than a little bet to Naruto but then he shrugged it off.

At that precise moment, Sakura chose to appear onto the street, carrying a bag that no doubt held the many purchases.

"Come on let's go back to the inn, it's already late and we need to wake up early for tomorrow!" she whined, oblivious to the argument that occurred a few seconds ago. Naruto immediately smiled that ear-splitting grin of his before answering her.

"Sure Sakura-chan! Let's go!" He cheered and began pulling her back towards their inn. Sasuke sighed. _What a bunch of idiots. _He slowly began to follow them, making sure they didn't disappear from his line of sight.

"Race ya to the inn, jerk!" he heard Naruto yell ahead. His eyes narrowed. _Oh you're so on dumbass._

He jumped into the rooftops, determined to get there first, if only to show up Naruto.

* * *

***Park of Eternal Flowers. **

****Swift Fist. **

**Got them from Google Translate so I don't think they're entirely accurate.**

* * *

**(1) I'm not sure if they do exist or if that is what they're called so please forgive my obliviousness.**

**(2) You actually can kill people with them, if you put enough pressure and in the correct spot, but it is very hard.**

* * *

**So, what do you guys think? Yea, it's a bit rushed and really late but please! I was occupied! I had absolutely no idea 10****th**** grade was so hard! I had nearly no free time to finish up this chapter and I lost my interest in Naruto! (Sad, I know but hey, if read the current chapters you would too! Sometimes I hate being right, damn you Kishimoto) I think I'm changing my update schedule to once a month now, a chapter every two weeks is frankly quite impossible now.**

**Anyways, what do you think of this chapter? I had no idea what I was going to make Kakashi teach them and pressure points suddenly hit the mark. Everything about them is true though, except for their locations and reactions. **

**So, was it good enough? I wouldn't mind any criticism , I'm actually expecting flames about how my writing and characterizations are horrible. Now I'm talking too much. **

**See ya guys next month, dattebayo!**


	6. Ch 5: The Fatal Ambush

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

_And so fell the tree, very slowly in Sasuke's eyes, and yet unable to move, he watched helpless as his teammate took his place. That little incident spurred some changes, as Sasuke learns more about his teammates and changed his destiny, their destiny and altered their future forever after…_

* * *

**-Chapter Five-**

**The Fatal Ambush**

* * *

"_You're not worth my time."_

"_You look strong!"_

* * *

The quiet and sombre atmosphere the next morning unnerved Sakura a bit. The air saturated with tense anticipation gave her goose-bumps. Even the stupid taste-less _Naruto _was quite and that was a miracle in itself. Sasuke-kun seemed a bit restless too but it had to be from excited, she was sure Sasuke-kun would beat up those bandits; he was very strong and he would surely protect her. But Kakashi-sensei appeared as cool and crisp as ever.

They started earlier that morning; Kakashi-sensei insisted that it gave them more time to get rid of those bandits and it looked to be the wisest decision they could have made because their job was bound to get more difficult. Sakura shuddered at the thought of fighting those bandits. While their mission in the Land of Waves was harder compared to this one, this would be the first mission where she would actually engage in combat.

"You know the drill my cute little students!" exclaimed Kakashi-sensei in that odd carefree way of his that somehow managed to come off as sadistically cheerful as well. Naruto growled quietly at his words but reluctantly stalked towards the gates followed by Sasuke-kun and herself, muttering under his breath.

Once again, they walked through the streets and out the town gates and tree-hopped into the clearing that became their unofficial meeting spot. (Sadly this seemed to be the routine for the last four days and became quite monotonous for Sakura)

"Now my cute little genin today is going to be tough!" Kakashi told them cheerfully but even Sakura could detect an edge to his voice.

"You already have some experience fighting bandits so this should be no problem. The only thing you should worry about is getting outnumbered. Please, here teamwork is critical. If you don't fight to cover each other's back then you will surely lose." Kakashi-sensei's voice trailed off into tensed silence.

Sakura was really scared. Sure they had fought off a couple of bandits not counting the Wave mission but now that she heard Kakashi-sensei's warning did it seem more serious. And she doubted they could co-operate together. Naruto would only get in the way of their plan and get himself killed, annoying both herself and Sasuke-kun.

"We know this already sensei! Don't be scared because I will kick those bandits' butts!" yelled Naruto loudly, irritating her immediately so she whacked him on his head for satisfaction. Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything and neither did Sasuke-kun. Kakashi just jumped into the trees and they had no choice but to follow the jōnin and their teammate.

* * *

It didn't take that long to reach their first bandit group, just about forty minutes. During that time the air was filled with anticipated silence. Sakura thought that she seemed to be the only one who was scared of the upcoming confrontation, all the male members of Team Seven seemed to be excited, even Sasuke-kun.

Kakashi-sensei stopped them just as they were a few yards away from the edge of the bandit's camp and much like their first day they huddled together to plan their attack.

"Kakashi-sensei there is a lot of bandits here, how can we defeat them?" hissed Sakura, frightened. There were about fifteen men in that particular camp and they all seemed to have some experience in fighting with weapons.

"Don't worry Sakura, we can handle a bunch of bandits," Kakashi-sensei reassured her. They spent a few minutes discussing a quick attack plan before deciding on an altered version of their previous battle plan.

Sakura was accompanying Kakashi-sensei and Naruto's shadow clone as they reached the northern edge of the thieves' camp while Sasuke and Naruto took the southern edge. The clone dispersed as the signal to attack and as one the ninja began their attack.

* * *

To Sasuke the fight was just below fighting Naruto. He barely had to do anything.

He ducked under a wild hammer slash and pressed a point on the man's neck and he crumpled immediately. He knocked out two more men before sounds of battle stopped.

Silence permeated clearing, interrupted only by the sound of Kakashi tying the thieves to some trees. Finally Sasuke broke the silence with a snort.

"That was too easy."

"Yes Kakashi-sensei, it was really easy!" Sakura seemed to be very happy by that fact. _Weak chicken_.

"They were no match for our awesomeness!" Naruto yelled loudly.

Kakashi smiled that annoying eye-smile of his. "Well if was hard for you guys then I would be wondering how you've gotten those forehead protectors." He straightened and smiled.

"Standard Konoha procedure number thirteen, when encountering a large group of adversaries, shinobi are supposed to collect the spoils and deliver them to the Konoha Treasury. So take anything that is of worth and put them in storage scrolls."

The genin had never heard of this procedure before and were understandably disturbed by it, Sakura in particular but nevertheless they started to scrounge around the camp. It took two and half hours since the thieves had a lot of stolen goods and scrap objects.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you sure we're supposed to do this? It's stealing!" complained Sakura. She was the most uncomfortable with this idea and looked at Kakashi pleadingly. The white-haired jōnin sighed.

"I'm sorry Sakura but it is standard procedure. If you fail to follow it then you could be stripped of your ninja status for stealing. And since we defeated these bandits then whatever they own automatically becomes ours." The annoying leech didn't say anything and continued to fill the storage scrolls with what they collected and handed them to the jōnin. Since it was already afternoon they spent half an hour eating their lunches and re-packing their provisions

Kakashi looked at the horizon as he put the full scrolls into his pocket. "Let's go, were behind schedule and we need to get rid of another group before we go back." The genin nodded grudgingly and followed their sensei into the trees. Their next attack site was much further away to the east so they had to travel another two hours before they reached the target site. Once again they decided to follow their previous attack formation only with each person at different points.

Sasuke stood at the southern point with the blonde idiot's clone sitting on the ground quiet for once_. I don't need the idiot's help or the leech's either. Kakashi and I are more than enough for these scumbags._

Nevertheless he waited until the clone dispersed itself before jumping some oblivious bandits. They were so surprised that they stood stock-still for a few moments which gave Sasuke just enough time to knock them out and a general uproar rose up.

This time the camp was larger; nearly twenty men and some were experienced in fighting. Sasuke dodged punches that were surprisingly strong and retaliated with some of his own. Soon enough all of the men were unconscious tied up while Team Seven were looking around in the many makeshift tents that contained stolen goods and some weapons.

"Sensei, this one's broken, do we have to bring it with us?" whined Naruto, holding up a broken scythe.

"Yes Naruto, you have to," answered Kakashi without looking up from his boxes, "we could use it make new weapons." Said boy huffed but threw the scythe into the growing pile of goods.

They finished their work an hour before sunset so Kakashi ordered them to gather their equipment and head back to Nikkō. Their return trip took longer than usual since the target camps were farther away from the town than the other campsites so they returned to the town a couple of hours after sundown.

When they finally reached the town's gates, Kakashi sent the genin back to their lodgings while he disappeared himself.

"This is so freaking unfair," muttered Naruto under his breath as they walked down the now-familiar road but both his teammates heard him.

"Stay quiet idiot. We need to rest for tomorrow and besides, Kakashi-sensei went to give out his report and we need to rest!" She ended up dragging a complaining Naruto by the ears until they reached their inn.

"Hey, you jerk Sasuke! How many guys did you beat? I bet it's less than mine!" yelled the moron, earning him another slap from the other useless teammate.

"Obviously Sasuke-kun beat more guys than you idiot!" she screeched in background as Sasuke ignored them both. He was more interested in cleaning his supplies. _Today's fight was easy, _he thought, _not worth fighting at full strength. _He sharpened his kunai and shuriken absently; tomorrow was the day when they finally finished off this mission and soon they would be back in Konoha. His mind flashed back to the map that Kakashi showed them; they were going to take on the biggest groups of bandits the next day, close to thirty men in each gang. He unconsciously packed every weapon he had into his pouch.

"But Sakura-chan," whined Naruto, "why not?"

"Because I said so stupid!" yelled the said girl. Sighing, Sasuke slipped into his futon and soon fell asleep.

* * *

They woke up the next morning refreshed even though they were still slightly exhausted. It was later than usual since Kakashi decided that they needed a bit more rest since the next two targets were farther away from the town than usual. Sakura complained a bit about the length of the journey but one remark from Sasuke made her shut up.

They reached the smaller group around nine in the morning which gave them sufficient time to formulate a better strategy as this group was larger than the previous groups.

"I want to see what you guys can come up with," said Kakashi, leaning against a tree trunk when his students looked at him expectantly. They grumbled audibly but they agreed nonetheless.

"We should surround them and then attack," Sakura said firmly. Sasuke snorted.

"They have too many people. It would hard to surround them and they could get away easily. It's better to attack them from the centre." Sakura immediately agreed to his plan, nodding dreamily with stars in her eyes which nearly gave Naruto the fits.

"But if we attack from the centre then the others would have enough time to escape! Sakura-chan is way better than yours!"

"Shut up idiot! Sasuke-kun's plan is way better!" Sasuke frowned.

"Then give us a better plan, dead-last." Naruto looked ready to burst be he refrained from yelling out loud lest he alert the men below them so he settled with a glare.

"Half of us should attack at the centre and the other half should surround them," he said confidently for a moment before Sakura broke through his aura of self-satisfaction.

"But then we'll be spread out too thin moron! Think again!" Sasuke scowled slightly with irritation but once again voiced his opinion.

"We should lay traps in case they escape but we'll still be attacking from the centre, they would be scattered and then fall straight into the traps while we finish them off." They once again looked at Kakashi, seeking his approval as _he _decided on the final plan. The said man sighed as if it was too much trouble; _that lazy bastard._

"They are all good Naruto was correct, we can't all attack from the centre and we don't have all they supplies for making enough traps for them all. And Naruto, Sakura is also correct, we would be spreading ourselves too thin," he watched as all three pre-teens deflated.

"But since they were all good ideas, it would be a shame not to use them." That made them brighten up almost immediately. "Sasuke, I don't think that we'll be able to use those traps but we all will be attacking from the centre. Naruto, I hope you can make lots of those clones of yours as they will be the ones that will be stopping the rest of these thieves from escaping."

Sasuke smirked smugly while Naruto nodded fervently as he placed his fingers into the Shadow clone seal and uttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu*."

Nearly thirty shadow clones appeared around them with quiet pops and several clouds of smoke. Naruto ordered them to surround the camp while the rest of Team Seven waited for the camp to be completely encompassed by the clones before they all jumped into the camp.

Sasuke jumped behind a man who wore a bandanna and knocked him out before he realised anything was amiss. The others realised the danger and soon Team seven was surrounded with men holding a variety of weapons.

Sasuke ignored his teammates as he charged forward, engaging in a brief struggle with one bandit before quickly getting rid of him and moved onto another opponent. He stopped a club from smashing his skull and delivered a punch into the man's gut before hitting a point on his neck. The man collapsed and another one took his place. Blocking a scythe with a kunai, he gave a high kick into the man's head and punched another in the back at the same time, getting rid of two more. He heard some other cries dimly, most probably the others_, _and turned around just in time to avoid a knife stabbing him in his ribs. He flipped the bandit and knocked him into a man who was about to charge into him causing them both to fall over.

All of sudden it was quiet. Sasuke stood up and surveyed the situation. The camp was trashed and the ground was littered with the groaning bodies of the bandits who resided in it and the rest of the team were scattered. Sakura and Naruto were both panting while Kakashi looked barely winded. Sasuke himself was feeling a bit out of breath but he dutifully went around the camp collecting valuables; they rest of his genin teammates followed suit, leaving Kakashi to bind the remaining bandits.

They collected the spoils quietly enough although they did take longer as the camp was quite big. They finished just after noon so Kakashi decided that they should have their lunch break before attacking the last bandit camp.

"How strong is the last camp?" Sasuke asked Kakashi quietly. He was curious about their last target and a very eager to finish the stupid mission to continue training.

"It's about the same size as this one but they are more organised and have better resources. This is the strongest bandit group in Nikkō," Kakashi finally said, a note of warning in his voice. Sasuke scoffed; there's _no way I couldn't beat them. _

"Then what are we waiting for sensei? Let's go kick butt!" yelled the orange-clad idiot in ear-piercing decibels. Kakashi sighed as he signalled them to pack up to leave. They left quite noisily mostly due to the two banshee's yelling that Sasuke was sure alerted the bandits to their location.

* * *

They finally reached their last target of the mission. Sasuke could see why this camp was the strongest, it was obvious they held a higher class to the other camps they had attacked. The men were more organised and ready, rather like those civilians soldiers. They were obviously well off; none of them looked thin and they obviously had a lot of good-quality weapons at their sides. Most of them were tense and alert; they were prepared for any attack.

Without any prompting, the three genin got into their former positions and waited once again for the signal before jumping into action.

Sasuke landed directly behind a man eating and knocked him out with a punch in his head. The uproar that indicated that they were found out was great; Sasuke was sure the people in Nikkō could hear the bandits yell as they tried to valiantly attack the ninjas but they were out-matched.

Sasuke ducked under a flying punch and gave one at the man who was bold enough to attack him, knocking the air out of his lungs. He had a moment of satisfaction but then his instincts screamed out to him; he ducked under a wild knife slash that would have undoubtedly gotten his eye and threw a kunai straight into the man's arm; _nobody threatened my eyes_. He sent a couple of bandits flying with a snap-kick and another one fell down after a painful jab at his throat. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed one thin guy escaping quietly. He had to snort; he should have expected Naruto to have allowed that man to get away. Sighing, he chased after him, reluctant to leave the rest of his team to fight off the rest.

The man was quick; he had to turn on his Sharingan to catch his movements through the thick trees. The man was quick he had to give it to him. The bandit ran and Sasuke followed him, events occurring and he found himself in that horrifying situation that shocked Team Seven to the core.

* * *

_Loss of comrades was very common, almost too common in the Elemental Countries. While the lifestyle of ninja was very exciting and exhilarating, it almost wasn't worth it when the black-lined scroll came from the Hokage himself, telling them that their loved ones won't be coming home._

_It was a lot worse for the shinobi on duty. The trauma of watching their comrades die in front of their eyes put many good men out of commission, especially if they died to protect them. The overwhelming feelings of grief and regret cripples them, always hanging and forever haunts them; they never get over the loss no matter how hard they try. _

_Witnessing loss at the battlefield at a young age changes a person's psychology completely, they change, become unrecognisable, so much that it could reverse their thought process permanently. It was always a tragedy for their families to see their beloved break down in their youth; shattering their dreams for them. While people always try to avoid this, it was inevitable to see deaths during their career._

* * *

***Shadow Clone technique**

* * *

**My freaking God, I'm so sorry guys! I updated late! And this chapter's horrible, too short! This is also my first attempt at writing a fighting scene so I really want to hear your opinions guys! Also I would love to give a special thanks to ShadowFreddyRaven and blaziebla for reviewing my previous chapter; I was so happy! And thank you to Oozora no Hono as well!**

**Blaziebla: Thank you so much for understanding! I swear I'm in over my head with all the work the teaches give me! And thanks for the review! You made my day!**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this very late and crappy chapter while I type away the next one. Please review, I would greatly appreciate it!**

**TheNSIGirl signing out!**


	7. Ch 6: It Never Happened

**And So Fell The Tree**

**と壁をノックダウ****ン**

* * *

**-Chapter Six-**

**It Never Happened**

* * *

"_It can't be true. It can't happen. It can't be possible!"_

"_I owe no one."_

* * *

Sasuke stared at the figure clad in orange as the dust cleared slowly. His chest hurt and he felt unexplainable panic bubble up and clog his throat. There wasn't any reason to panic right? Any moment now there would be the tell-tale sign of a clone popping inn a cloud of smoke and the idiot would appear, lagging behind since he always was the loser. But there was no smoke.

_You idiot Naruto, disperse the clone. It's not funny._

Kakashi moved forward and tried lifting the tree up and succeeded; slowly lifting the tree away from his student. Sasuke's body moved as if on auto-pilot, pushing as hard as his body could; his heart pounding relentlessly; he was barely aware of his own actions.

_Come out you loser. Stop hiding._

"Sakura! As soon as me and Sasuke lift the tree try to pull Naruto out you hear me?" Sasuke registered dimly that Kakashi seemed less panicked and more desperate.

… _Get up moron. Don't act like you're dead._

* * *

When Sakura blinked the dust out her eyes, she had never expected the sight that had met her eyes. She barely noticed it when Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei ran towards the tree. Her vision tunnelled around the orange tracksuit. She barely noticed anything else.

_Kami-sama, is that Naruto? It can't be Naruto, nothing happens to Naruto, get up Naruto, get up, please get up please please please…_

"… Pull Naruto out you hear me?" Kakashi-sensei's voice broke into her thoughts. Sakura shook her head and ran forward, ignoring the depressing thoughts that her mind sought to bring out.

She watched as Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun pushed at the tree until the orange tracksuit revealed itself under the dust. Sakura barely contained a gasp when she saw the _blood_. _I-it's everywhere! Kami-sama!_

"Sakura! Pull him out _now_!" Sakura suddenly felt a rush of guilt; she was staring blankly at _no, that isn't Naruto._

She crawled over the dirt, wincing as the stones and grime scratched her arms but otherwise she paid them no mind; she more important things to worry about.

She reached Naruto and nearly gagged when she felt the horrible metallic scent of blood infiltrated her nostrils but she tried to pull the orange jacket back. She tensed; the guy's skin felt icy-cold even through the jacket.

She continued to pull at the jacket but her throat closed up when she finally saw clearly; _NO! Kami-sama, no!_

* * *

Kakashi grunted but he let go of the tree as soon as he saw Sakura pull Naruto out; another groan told him Sasuke had done the same thing but he barely cared. He checked over his student, wincing at the sight. Naruto was entire left side was _crushed _under the weight of the tree, both arms and legs bent at odd angles and judging from the amount of blood, severe blood-loss.

Feeling his training kicking in, he ordered his other two genin to gather the necessary equipment from their supply bags back in the clearing while he himself went about to wrapping Naruto's worst wounds.

He heard the sounds of branches snapping, indicating that Sakura and Sasuke were coming back; _they should have made sure not make as much noise _he thought absently. Sakura shakily handed him some clean bandages before skittering back nervously. Sasuke on the other hand gave his splints much more calmly but Kakashi could tell he was out of it.

He tried to clean off the blood to the best of his ability and bandaged all the visible wounds. _I'm really glad Minato-sensei forced me to attend that __seminar about basic medical knowledge that Tsunade-sama gave before she left._

He cautiously straightened Naruto's arm, ignoring the weak groan that escaped the boy and secured the broken limb in the makeshift splints before wrapping them in the bandages, taking care not to cut off the circulation.

"Kakashi-sensei! Is Naruto going to be okay?" Sakura franticly asked; the worry on her face clearly visible.

Kakashi considered telling her that no, Naruto obviously wasn't going to be okay but eventually sighed.

"Yes, Naruto is definitely going to be okay, he would be stopped by a few injuries!" he tried to tell her cheerfully, cringing mentally at the obviously fake cheer in his voice.

"What about the mission?" Sasuke finally asked in a monotone, Kakashi could barely notice apprehension in his in his carefully blank face.

_I know the mission takes priority here but I can't let my student stay like this. Nikk__ō doesn't have a hospital and a clinic isn't going heal Naruto. We have to go back to Konoha but we need to end this mission. I can use my ninken. _Making his mind, he simply told them, "Easy."

He went through the necessary hand-signs and placed his hand on the ground. To the astonishment of his students, a complex seal appeared around his glove-encased hand and a small ninken with tanned fur, long ears and round eyes appeared. It surprised the two pre-teens even more when the pug _talked_.

"Hey there Kakashi! Is there anything I can do for you? And what is that stench?" the pug asked in rapidly in an excited voice.

Kakashi ignored the last statement. "Bisuke, I need you to deliver this map to the village leader in Nikkō and tell him that according to unfortunate circumstances we cannot meet with him and that we hope that he has been satisfied by our work on behalf of Konoha."

The ninken accepted the map and said, "You can count on me Kakashi!" before disappearing.

When Bisuke left, Kakashi proceeded to heft Naruto onto his shoulder and was signalled Sakura and Sasuke to follow him.

"Judging by the amount of blood he lost, Naruto needs to get medical attention immediately so we better hurry back to Konoha," he told them. Sakura immediately teared up and Sasuke's face took on the appearance of a marble statue.

They followed him wordlessly as they travelled through the forest at high speeds back towards the village that they called home.

* * *

The fire flickered and crackled, sending out bright embers. Sakura stared at it listlessly. It was her turn to watch the camp and she felt tired, both physically and mentally. They had ran at double-speed and Kakashi-sensei told them they should at Konoha at midday tomorrow at best. He tried to avoid the subject of Naruto but even Sakura could see how worried he was.

Sakura's eyes watered when she thought about Naruto. The stupid idiot had to get himself stuck under a tree and get injured so badly that he needed immediate medical attention. That moron had no reason to do that and make them worr-

"Sakura."

She froze up when she felt someone's grip her shoulder until she heard Kakashi-sensei's voice. She tried to wipe away her tears before he noticed.

"Stop worrying Sakura. Naruto will be fine, you heard him. He wouldn't let anything stop him from becoming the Hokage." Kakashi-sensei tried to console her but she couldn't let herself relax.

"But what if he can't Kakashi-sensei? What if he dies? Why did he have to be an idiot? It's not fair sensei!" She cried out, the tears she had been holding back the whole day finally fell like a waterfall. Her sobs echoed throughout their camp.

Kakashi silently hugged her and let her bawl onto his shoulder without complaint. When she finally quieted down and her sobs turned to whimpers, Kakashi pulled away and looked at her.

He gave her one of his annoying upside down U-shaped smiles. "Have a little faith in your teammate Sakura-chan~," he told her.

Sakura looked down ashamed, but couldn't squash down the worry she felt for the orange-wearing idiot.

"Go to sleep Sakura, it's my turn to watch and you need to sleep." Kakashi-sensei told her softly. Sakura reluctantly went towards her bedroll and before she realised it, sleep took over.

* * *

Sasuke lied down in his sleeping bag, thoughtful. He couldn't believe they were talking about Naruto as if he was dead. Which he wasn't. That moron was obviously too stupid to die.

He rolled over. Why would that moron push him away? He wasn't stupid; he knew that what Naruto did had most probably saved his life, or at least saved him from being permanently paralysed.

_Why did he do it?_

Naruto didn't owe him anything. He wasn't indebted to him.

_But I am_, realised Sasuke.

_I owe him my life._

Sasuke felt anger taking over his mind. _How dare he, how dare he, that moron! He wants to distract me! _Sasuke noticed he hadn't thought about his vengeance for the whole length of their mission.

_Not only that, but I owe him, twice!_

Sasuke seethed. It was all because of his damned team. _I'm becoming too soft, I'm forgetting my duty towards my clan. _

Sasuke calmed himself down. _ I can't let myself get distracted. _

_I have to concentrate on my mission; no obstacle would stop me._

_It never happened._

* * *

_The brain is a very delicate organ. It is filled with mysteries and anomalies. It works unpredictably and contains more secrets than Hi no Kuni has trees. Shinobi have realised this early on, which was why clans dealing with the mind, like Konoha's Yamanaka clan, were held in high regard. Any clan who dared to venture in to maze-like structure of the human brain were as rare as true seal masters who have long disappeared with the destruction of Uzu no Kuni and Uzushiogakure no Sato. _

_Memories too were not as simple. Some might think of memories as merely images and sounds recorded and stored in our brains, while some others think that they are the essence of people's experience. Nobody agreed on these opinions but they all knew that they were dangerous. A human mind is fragile, delicate. It desperately tries to protect itself, twisting the strange sensations experienced by the body; molding it into something that is easier on the person's weak mentality. The feelings, the memories, the emotions, oh so fragile, they can't help but remain controlled until a stimulus breaks the illusion of security that wraps them._

* * *

**Hi no Kuni - **Land of Fire, where Konoha.

**Uzu no Kuni - **Land of Whirlpools.

**Uzushiogakure no Sato - **Village hidden in the Whirlpools.

* * *

**I deserve to die. Yes people, I'm free for you to do whatever you want with me, I'm guilty. I'm sorry but I'm not apologising. I put more importance on my school life than to fanfiction so this chapter came out terribly late and horrifyingly short. Unfortunately I'm not sure when the next one will come out because it's open season on students now and I'm too busy trying to dodge homework bullets. But I WILL try to do it soon. And make the next chapter longer. Seriously, this is the shortest chapter I ever wrote, and I wanted to emphasise how the rest of Team Seven, especially Sasuke, felt.**

**Anyways, I wanted to thank ****KeepCalmAndWatchAnime, KisunaFuji and Guest for reviewing my story, I really loved your reviews! They were what reminded me that I had absolutely lovely and patient people waiting for me to update. You really warmed my cold heart :)**

**Guest: I'm glad you did! And no, don't worry I'm cruel, but not that cruel to kill off Naruto! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Later guys!  
TheNSIGirl**


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